The synergistic antitumor effect of IL-6 neutralization with NVP-BEZ235 in hepatocellular carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) still ranks among the top cancers worldwide with high incidence and mortality. Due to abnormal activation of the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signalling pathway in HCC, targeting this pathway represents a potential therapeutic strategy. NVP-BEZ235 is a novel dual-targeted ATP-competitive PI3K/mTOR inhibitor that has shown effective antitumor effects. In this study, we found that interleukin-6 (IL-6) was significantly increased after exposure to NVP-BEZ235, and we proposed a treatment in which an anti-IL-6 antibody was combined with NVP-BEZ235 for HCC. In vitro results revealed that targeted inhibition of IL-6 potentiated the antitumor effects of NVP-BEZ235 in HCC cells. The mechanism might be attributed to their synergistic inhibitory activity on the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signalling pathway. Furthermore, an in vivo study demonstrated that combined administration of NVP-BEZ235 and anti-IL-6 Ab reduced HCC tumour load more effectively than either NVP-BEZ235 or anti-IL-6 Ab treatment alone. These findings add guidance value to the analysis of HCC and provide a reference for clinical treatment.